Pizza is no doubt a tried and true favorite of restaurant goers, and that’s been especially true over the past few years. Pizza restaurant sales and the number of pizza restaurants have been on the rise for the past decade. And with dine in, takeout and delivery combined, sales reached over $46 billion in the U.S in 2020.

But with that success also comes a challenge to stand out from the pack. Whether you’re selling New York-style pizza by the slice or fine-dining artisan pizza, you may need to adjust your marketing strategy from time to time to keep attracting new customers, engage existing customers and convert interested visitors into loyal customers.

Here are a few pizza restaurant marketing strategies to help you create some buzz and promote your business this summer. 

Go Behind the Scenes 

One easy way to increase engagement and attract new customers is to pivot your social media strategy. One successful approach to that is to post behind-the-scenes content that gives your customers insight into your business that they usually wouldn’t see. It’s great way to show off the care you put into your food and brand and a fun way for guests to get to better know your staff. Consider videos of your food prep or cooking process to show off what makes your menu really unique or feature staff members to help make people feel more attached to the people behind the brand. 

Create a Summer Limited-Time Offer

New news is always good news in the restaurant world. Generate buzz, urgency and sales with a special menu item available only for summer. Explore seasonal ingredients, add a new menu item or find a way to enhance a favorite that guests currently love. An exclusive and innovate LTO can go a long way to reengage people with your restaurant or to earn some love and attention from bloggers or the media. 

Offer Pizza By the Slice 

You could also drum up some excitement by looking at how you offer or bundle current favorites.  If it works with your operation model, offering pizza by the slice is a way to entice new customers to try your pizza or attract customers during different times of the day. Draw in the lunchtime crowd with a combo meal that includes a slice of pizza, drink and side. Or if you’re in a place with foot traffic, you could attract a younger crowd looking for a late night bite by offering pizza by the slice. 

Design Summer Deals for Groups

Pizza marketing ideas or campaigns don’t have to be complicated. It could be as simple as offering deals for groups over the summer. You could draw in summer interns looking for a place to grab lunch together or a summer sports team that wants to grab a bite after a weeknight game. And with pizza, group deals are always going to be a hit. Consider creating new combo packages that feature pizza, wings, breadsticks and dessert, for example, that make large orders easy for groups or offer discounts to large groups on your regular menu. 

How Can We Help? 

If you know you need to make a splash with marketing this summer, but aren’t sure where to start, Push has over two decades of doing just that—check out our work with restaurants for yourself. We’d love to hear from you and see how we can help.